Kimi Antonelli has repeated his Shanghai heroics to take the lead of the Drivers' championship after victory at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Mercedes duo of Antonelli and
George Russell suffered slow starts, as McLaren's Oscar Piastri took the early lead and
Ferrari made gains, but a rapid Safety Car restart saw Antonelli storm to the win.
With an impressive winning margin of 14 seconds, 19-year-old Antonelli becomes the youngest F1 championship leader ever, beating previous holder
Lewis Hamilton by 2 years and 274 days.
Oscar Piastri has finally got his season underway, finishing P2 ahead of Ferrari's
Charles Leclerc, who was locked in a thrilling skirmish again with Hamilton and Russell for the final podium place late on.
Max Verstappen recovered from his P11 start, but only to P8, after an impressive defence by Alpine's Pierre Gasly up to the final corner.
The Safety Car was brought out on Lap 22 after
a big impact crash for Ollie Bearman at Spoon curve. The young Brit hit the barriers at 50G but fortunately has been cleared by the medical centre.
Further down the grid, Aston Martin completed a Grand Prix for the first time this season, thanks to new father Fernando Alonso, but teammate Lance Stroll had to retire due to a suspected water pressure issue.
Here are the full results from the Japanese Grand Prix:
Japanese Grand Prix Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|
| | MercedesMER | - | 1:34.063 |
| | McLarenMCL | - | 1:33.294 |
| | FerrariFER | - | 1:32.634 |
| | MercedesMER | - | 1:32.549 |
| | McLarenMCL | - | 1:33.560 |
| | FerrariFER | - | 1:33.669 |
| | AlpineALP | - | 1:34.169 |
| | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:34.007 |
| | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:34.230 |
| | HaasHAA | - | 1:34.256 |
| | AudiAUD | - | 1:33.796 |
| | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:33.837 |
| | AudiAUD | - | 1:35.123 |
| | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:34.314 |
| | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:34.539 |
| | AlpineALP | - | 1:34.685 |
| | CadillacCAD | - | 1:35.637 |
| | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:38.953 |
| | CadillacCAD | - | 1:36.269 |
| | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:33.427 |
| | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:40.631 |
| | HaasHAA | - | 1:35.604 |
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